Jedidiah “Jed” Duke

Jedidiah Duke – Adventurer, Chef, and Wild Soul

Born in 1979 and raised in the rugged mountains, Jedidiah Duke has been exploring the outdoors since before he could walk—literally. There are pictures of him as a baby, bundled up in diapers, camped out in the wilderness. His early connection to nature set the foundation for a life driven by adventure and exploration. By the late 90s, Jed had found his first love in kayaking. He spent years carving his way down rivers, paddling through whitewater in his trusty Dagger Free Fall. Around the same time, he took up climbing, chasing that vertical thrill wherever the rocks would take him.

But life has a way of pushing us in new directions. In the early 2000s, after breaking his leg, Jed stepped back from kayaking and climbing. The mountains weren’t going anywhere, but his thirst for new experiences led him toward the sea. A chance to crew a 36-foot sailboat from Fort Lauderdale to Puerto Rico opened a whole new chapter. Eleven days at sea, with seven of them spent without a speck of land in sight, was a first for him—and it confirmed something else: he didn’t need a pet. That notion was further cemented after riding horseback across mesas from Pinedale, Wyoming, to Moab, Utah—a grueling 45-day trek that was as much a test of patience as it was of endurance. While it was a life-changing journey, it taught him that the solitude of adventure was preferable to tending to animals.

His next great discovery came while on a vacation to Hawaii, where he learned to paddleboard. It was an easy love affair, and paddleboarding quickly became a new obsession. But just as things seemed to settle, life threw him a curveball, and Jed found himself single again, ready to start fresh. He hadn’t had a good adventure in a while, and the itch to get back out there was growing stronger by the day.

Professionally, Jed spent several years as a chef and even owned his own restaurant for a time. When the lease on the building expired, he kept the fire burning by cooking at various restaurants around town. But something was missing. The kitchens couldn’t quite satisfy the same hunger he had for the wild. Then, a coworker offered him a golden opportunity: a trip through the Grand Canyon. That invitation reignited his passion for the water, and with it came an idea that would soon blossom into his next great quest.

Now, Jedidiah Duke is standing on the edge of a new adventure, one that promises to push his limits and set a world record. He’s preparing for the first-ever descent of the Colorado River by paddleboard—a feat that combines both his love of the water and the land, with an off-road component to keep things interesting. It’s a daring, one-of-a-kind journey, and the making of a new chapter in his life-long pursuit of adventure. The wild is still calling, and Jed is ready to answer.